Plea deal could jail suspects in shooting over balloon 1 year

A real estate agent showing a house for sale in Clarksville was nearly killed last fall when a fight over a child's balloon ended in gunfire.

Now, her fears have come true as the man accused of shooting at her 10 times has struck a plea deal.

Things turned violent after a 2-year-old got her hands on the balloon tied to a home that agent Tammy Earp planned to show to an interested couple in September 2012.

When Earp's boyfriend told the child to put it back, an argument ensued with some of the residents along Barkwood Drive.

A Ford Thunderbird with five men inside soon arrived and tried to block the real estate agent's path. As the men exited the Thunderbird, officers said one of them started shooting.

Handgun rounds struck the door and hood of the agent's car, as well as a nearby house.

"The passenger door opened, the seat lifted up and he had a gun and he pointed straight at me, coming straight at me. I didn't know what to do, so I put my car in reverse and was laying down," Earp said. "I said, 'Please don't kill me. Please don't. I have kids and nobody to take care of them.'"

The growing crowd scared off James Bagwell, 22, and 20-year-old Detarius Curry, but they were soon charged with attempted second-degree murder, reckless endangerment and aggravated assault for allegedly firing 10 gunshots.

The charges carry a sentence between eight and 12 years in jail, but as the trial drew near, a Montgomery County assistant district attorney has told Earp they were offering a plea bargain that would only send Bagwell and Curry to jail for one year.

"I don't understand how you can put somebody's life in your hands and shoot at them 10 times and were not intending to kill them," Earp said. "To me, I feel like the dirt on his shoe. Really, that's what I feel like."

Our news partners at The Leaf Chronicle reported Curry pleaded guilty this week to the lesser charges against him, and the attempted second-degree murder charge was dropped.

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